After a long day of hunting (unsuccessfully) n the rain I cam home and did my usual bore clean and wipe down on my rifle and set it out to dry. A few days later I happen to loof in the chamber to see several spots of rust!

I must not have done a good enough job getting the chamber when cleaning the bore. Now I think i got all the rust off.

So will there be lasting effects? Is the chamber perminantly damaged?

I would think that it would take longer then a few days to get rust on the gun?

I hadn't looked down the bore since before the season, so it could have started a while ago.

I doubt it would have already pitted the chamber. After you got the rust our can you see pitting or just some discoloration? You can do a couple of things. 1 Take it to someone with a borescope to check it out, 2 take a clean soda straw, an push it inside the chamber keeping the tip of the straw against the wall of the chamber you'd be amazed at the variations you can feel through the straw. Or, 3 you can take it out and shoot it. If you have smooth extraction, and the brass looks good don't worry about it. If you actually have a problem it can almost always be polished out.

quote:

Originally posted by Wayfaring Stranger:
...So will there be lasting effects? Is the chamber perminantly damaged?

Hey WS, When my firearms were (constantly Rusting) Blue Steel, I had to watch mine very closely about the Rust. Like you, I also spend a lot of Hunting time in slight drizzles, light rain and dripping woods. Plus the use of DEET was tough on the outside.

Hopefully the only "lasting effects" will be in your memory. That will work to your advantage over the coming years. I clean mine sometimes even when they haven't been outside.

If it is really a "Rust Spot", then it is permanent. There is no way to go back and add steel to the Pits. However, it may still shoot just fine. The only way to know is to try it and see how well it currently shoots. Some of the old rifles I've seen with Pits still shot very acceptable Groups.

The Pits typically require a bit more cleaning, but I imagine you will be doing that anyhow. Now you can see why I'm always amazed by folks who "claim" their Blue Steel NEVER Rusts.

Best of luck to you.

For what it's worth, rust can develop in MINUTES. I have actually witnessed golf clubs rust during a round when they have been sprinkled on in a light rain, no rust on first hole, rusted nicely by the second green.

Light rust, which is simply oxidization of the metal, is usually not harmful if removed quickly, and then halted from progressing further. HC has it right, you have to watch steel carefully, especially blued steel (as opposed to stainless steel)

Good luck--Don

My Brother in law had a .338 Browning A-Bolt which had a chamber pitted so badly the fired cases showed the imprint of the pits! Enter a .458 bristle brush wrapped in 0000 steel wool and a power drill with lots of Hoppes... Chamber is now fine, but the barrel pits destroyed accuracy except with the Swift 275's... oh well.

stainless steel barrels rust too.